Two Bouncing Baby Boys
by Paloma Latina
Summary: Remus and Sirius are missing from Hogwarts, and to top off Lily's stress, two familiar babies show up. Mel and Christie help her look after them, but will James figure out what has happened before they get too attached? JamesLilly, Marauder Era, No Peter!
1. In which Quiddich has Training

**Okay, here is a new story from me. I know I said I wouldn't write too many at once, but a friend of mine - Tonks not Nymphadora - asked me to write one from an idea she had, kinda like a Co-Writer. So, here it is...

* * *

**

The day had not been going very well for any of the Gryffindor seventh years. They had one more N.E.W.T test to go, but they were working just as hard as they had when the first test came. This was because the last test was to be a DADA test – one they were all taking. Since the rise of Mouldy-wart (as they liked to call him, back in the day), everybody had become increasingly worried about safety. As a result, more Aurors were needed to patrol around the Ministry and take down Death Eaters, hence the accent in DADA students.

"Oh, Miss Evans."

Lily turned to find Hedgerow, the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, rush down the stairs towards her. The whole grade was waiting quietly in the hallway outside the Great Hall. Once the professor reached her, she took a few deep breaths before continuing. Mrs Hedgerow was a very young, skinny lady who always wore a lot of makeup and rather high stilettos. The seventh years turned their attention towards the two since there was nothing left to amuse them.

"Yes, Professor?"

"Here is...your essay...back!" she puffed, steadying herself with the wall. She held out a scroll of parchment to Lily, which she gracefully took.

Lily was a very beautiful young woman with a fiery temper. She had flaming red hair to match and sparkling green eyes. Lily was a committed sort of person and was easily top of her class. Apart from Transfiguration – James topped that, not that she would admit it.

"Thank you, Professor."

"Please, call me Flick."

That is what Hedgerow always said to her elder students. Flick's real name was Felicity but she never really responded to it much. She preferred Flick. Naturally, the Marauders called her that and McGonagall protested. "Professor Hedgerow, NOT Flick!" Ha. As if they would listen.

"Okay, Flick."

Flick smiled before running back up the stairs and disappearing around the corner. Lily shoved the parchment into her bag and continued talking with her friends.

"I'm going to fail," one of them was whispering under her breath.

Melissa Newham had always been a worry wart. She was the shortest of the lot, mostly by about three inches. Melissa had curly brown hair and dark brown eyes. She was a lovely girl to get along with; her only bad point was her clumsiness. She could have you hanging off a railing when only seconds ago you were walking down the stairs. Mel was also amazingly cheeky.

"No you aren't, Mel. Remember all that studying we did?" her other friend asked.

Christie Williamson was a very smart, pretty girl. She was the tallest of the three and just loved a good book. She had creamy blonde hair and blue eyes with a tinge of grey. Christie could be found at the library with Remus almost any day of the week. She hated heights and could barely watch Quiddich, although, she had read thousands of books about it and probably knew more about the sport than one of Potter's fan girls.

"How could I not?" Mel replied.

And it was true. How could she not after Christie all but tied Lily and Mel to their chairs and forced them to study. Mel was always complaining that is was 'such a bore'. Lily knew what was best and decided to keep her mouth shut. This way, she wasn't the one who got extra bad dares the next time the group played truth or dare. Poor Mel.

"Chill!" Lily said, leaning against the wall, trying to calm her nerves. "The practical is up next and we all know we will ace it so... shush."

"Oh. Really mature, Lily: _Shush_." Christie remarked, sarcastically.

"I didn't think it was very mature," murmured Mel.

Typical. Mel wouldn't know sarcasm if it was dancing in front of her in striped pyjamas. Then again, most people would be wondering how sarcasm can wear pyjamas. But, that's not the point.

* * *

Lily breathed in fresh air. It was good to have all the exams over and done with. 

"I think I did well," she said, sitting down in the shade of a tree.

Mel huffed. "Yeah? Well...neurgh." She stuck her tongue out and plonked down next to her, right in a puddle of snow. She didn't realise, though.

"I reckon I did okay," said Christie, sitting down gracefully on a small rock.

"_I reckon I did okay_," mimicked Mel, throwing her arms around.

"What's got your knickers in a twist?" Lily asked, frowning at her friend.

"You weren't the one wrestling a blue flamingo off an old man, were you?"

Neither of them answered. They didn't want to know. They also knew it was best to stay clear of Mel when she was in a bad mood.

"So, who is staying for the Winter Holidays?" Lily asked once Mel had calmed down safely.

"Me," Mel said sadly. "Mum won't let me stay at home by myself since I set the oven on fire."

"Where are they going?"

"Australia, on a school camp."

Mel's parents were both teachers at a muggle school, even though they were both magic. Christie's mother was a muggle and also worked at a muggle school – only, a different one. Her father worked for the Ministry as a reporter. He had to inform all the departments of important events and had chances to go all around the world.

"Mum said I could choose what I want to do. I think I'll stay," said Christie, curling a strand of hair around her finger.

"I'll stay, then!" exclaimed Lily, laughing at Mel who was dancing around, completely oblivious to the stares she was getting from the seventh years nearby. And the wet patch on her robes.

* * *

After dinner, the three friends sat around in the Common Room, warming themselves up by the fire. Most of the students were in bed, save the seventh year Gryffindors and a few late-night homework-doers (as Mel called them). 

"Oi! Evans!" James called from the other side of the room.

"What, Potter?" Lily called back, irritated.

"McGonagall wants to see us now."

"Why didn't you tell me before, you dolt?"

He shrugged and met Lily at the door to the Head's Office – who had been dragging out her goodbyes to make James wait. When they entered, Lily noticed McGonagall looked slightly different. Not, completely different...tired different.

"Now, Miss Potter, Mr Evans-"

"It's Mr and Mrs Potter!" corrected James. Lily hit him on the shoulder.

"Right," shrugged McGonagall, ignoring the comment. "You are late."

"Yes, Mrs Potter here needed to say goodbye to her friends."

"Potter!" McGonagall warned, finally taking in what he had said.

"Sorry, Minnie."

McGonagall scowled. Potter grinned. Lily yawned.

"Now, back to the main issue of this meeting, as you well know, winter is fast approaching. One month until holidays, to be exact. Since many students are staying at Hogwarts for safety issues," Lily and James nodded. "Professor Dumbledore has suggested a Winter Ball."

"Cool," James muttered.

Lily inwardly gulped. If there was to be a ball, there was also a lot of planning to be done. If there was planning to be done, there were a lot of jobs to do. If there were a lot of jobs to do, Heads were always called. Lily didn't like that one bit.

"So, as Head of Gryffindor, it is my duty to ask you two to help plan the event. All you need to do is assign jobs to the Prefects and take on what they can't handle. Is that clear?"

James and Lily nodded.

"You may leave."

Lily and James quietly made their way to the Head Dorms – which the entrance was situated between the Portrait Hole and the fireplace. Their rooms were separated by a large bathroom, which they shared.

"Goodnight, Potter."

"Goodnight, Mrs Potter."

* * *

The next morning, Lily was the first up. She had a quick shower and walked down to the Common Room and back up to the Girl's Dorm. She walked into Mel and Christie's room and threw pillows at them. 

"Get lost!" Mel yelled, diving further under her doona.

"Morning, Lils," said Christie, standing up and walking to the bathroom to get ready.

Christie was a much better morning person than Mel. Lily could remember when Christie and she had to drag Mel out of bed by her legs and attack her with pillows, the other week.

"Up!" scorned Lily, pulling the sheets away from Mel.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Mel...!"

"Fine."

Mel slid out of bed and slowly walked to the bathroom. By then, Christie was stepping out, leaving the room for Mel to get ready. It was still very early but both Lily and Christie were used to it. After all, they were both morning people. Unfortunately, Mel wasn't and took no less than one whole hour to brush her teeth, let alone get ready.

"How are you?" Lily asked Christie, sitting on her bed next to her.

"I'm okay. I miss sharing a dorm with you, though."

"Same. But you guys know you are welcome to come up to the Head Dorm for sleepovers."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Before either of them could continue, a scream came from the bathroom. Lily and Christie stood up and ran to the door.

"Mel, are you okay?"

"I got shampoo in my eye!" Mel winged.

"Tough."

"Shut up, Christie!"

"Hey, Lil said that. Not me!"

"Tough!"

Christie sighed. Mel was too clumsy for it to be normal.

* * *

"I'm going on a bear hunt. I'm going on a bear hunt. I'm gonna catch a big one!" 

"_Mel!_"

"I'm gonna catch a big one! I'm not scared. I'm not scared."

"_Melissa!_"

"Oh no!"

"Oh no!" Christie joined in.

"_Christie, not you too_."

"It's a big puddle of mud!"

"It's a big puddle of mud!"

"Can't go around it."

"Can't go around it."

"_I'm serious, guys. Stop it!_"

"Gotta go through it."

"Gotta go through it."

"Yuck!"

"Yuck!"

"_Please, cut it out_."

"We're going on a bear hunt."

"We're going on a bear –"

With all the force she had, Lily threw her hands up and covered their mouths. "I told you to stop it."

Christie and Mel shrugged.

This was a regular occurrence during dinner. Mel just loved to bug Lily and Christie some times joined in. And a few times, Lily would just give in and sing along. Normally it wasn't the same song, but Mel had started loosing her imaginative side. Lily didn't know how many more times she could hear the song and not explode.

"Aw, Lily. They were just having some fun," said Sirius, sitting in the seat across from her.

"What do you want, Black?" Lily asked, still silencing Mel and Christie.

"Nothing. I'm just eating."

Lily sighed, took her hands away and continued eating. Mel and Christie high-fived over Lily's head and then they too dug in. A few moments later, James and Remus joined Sirius and within seconds, Mel, James and Sirius were in a full-on Quiddich conversation.

"Oh, before I forget, training is on tonight," interrupted James.

Lily dropped her fork. "What?"

Mel and James gave her shocked looks. "Training...tonight..."

"But we were going to have a sleepover, remember?" Lily asked Mel, upset.

"Hey, it's okay. I'll re-schedule training. You guys can still have your sleepover."

"Aww...thanks James. That is really lovely of you," said Mel, smiling up at James.

"No problem. Training is re-scheduled to...now!"

The smile dropped off Mel's face.

"Are you guys coming to training?" she asked, slightly annoyed.

Christie and Lily nodded. They always came to training, rain, hail or shine. But what Mel didn't know, is Lily and Christie would normally be asleep for half of it. She just couldn't see from up there.

* * *

Lily and Christie walked up all the stairs to the top section of the Quiddich stands. By the time they sat down, they were completely out of breath. 

"2674 stairs," Christie said, taking deep breaths.

"You're kidding!"

"No, I'm not."

"Well, that was the best work out I've had for a while."

Mel, James, Sirius, Remus and the rest of the team walked onto the pitch. James was the seeker, Sirius and Remus were beaters, Mel, Cassidy Jones and Kelly Green were chasers. And last, but not least, was Damien Young as the keeper. They were easily the best team in the competition. This year was no different. Gryffindor hadn't been beaten in any game since James Potter joined. Now, as expected, he was the Captain. He had been leading them to victory for the past five years.

"There they are," Christie said, pointing down onto the field.

There was really no need; the team was wearing bright red and gold. They were virtually un-missable. The girls waved.

"Yep. There they are."

* * *

Mel walked out of the dressing rooms, carrying her broom. It wasn't as fast as some of the other brooms, but it was stable and that was exactly what the clumsy players needed. 

"Come on Mel, you'll do fine," said Damien, putting an arm around her shoulders. That was what most of the team did, since she was the perfect height to be an arm rest.

"Yeah, but last time I kept dropping the ball."

"Mel?"

"Yes?"

"Stop worrying. It's your 17th birthday in two days. Be happy."

Mel kept walking and soon they were on their brooms, doing laps around the field. James was almost overlapping her, on his fast broom. Mel was behind. As usual.

"James!" she yelled as he came up next to her.

"Hmm..?"

"I can't keep flying this broom!"

James sighed. He rode right up close to her and sat on the back of her broom.

"Hop on mine. Take it for a test flight."

Mel carefully moved from her broom to his, with a bit of help. James hovered next to her for a while as she got used to the shiny wood.

"Wow!"

"Yeah, I know. Just do one lap and tell me how you felt."

Mel sped off toward the other side of the pitch. At first she was a bit wonky from the new amount of speed, but by the time she was halfway around, she was like a speeding bullet. As she came around the corner, she tried to brake. She over shot James by about ten meters and whacked herself in the head with the stick.

"Are you okay?" James asked, flying towards her.

"Yep, just need to practice braking."

"Yeah." He turned around to where the rest of the team was waiting. "Water brake!"

* * *

Lily and Christie walked out onto the field just as practice was finishing up. They walked up to Mel who was talking to James. 

"...practice catching. You'll do fine."

"Thanks." She turned to her best friends. "Hey guys!"

Lily and Christie hugged her.

"You didn't see my embarrassing training run, did you?" she asked, blinking away tears.

"You did really well. Cassidy and Kelly threw too hard, that's all."

Mel moped up her tears with the back of her hand and they all walked back to the castle.

"Sleepover still on?" Lily asked as they climbed the first set of stairs.

"Sleepover still on!" they replied before running all the way back to the Common Room.

* * *

**Okay, how did you like it? It took me a few days to get it perfect. I would really appreciate some reviews...**

**RG**

**Love you all!**

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox**


	2. In which Truth or Dare is Played

**Wow! Thanks to my reviewers, you rule. This chapter comes in at 3310 words, exactly. Yay! Longest one I have ever written in any of my fics. Well, the posted ones.**

**P.S. Thanks to Nymphie (that's her new nickname) for inspiring me!

* * *

**

Once Lily was in the safety of her room, she immediately started getting ready for the sleepover. She asked one of the house elves to get her some food, Mel and Christie's things and two mattresses before running back down to the Common Room in her pyjamas.

"Lily!" Christie squealed, jumping down the stairs, also in her pyjamas.

"Where is Mel?" Lily asked, looking around for the short brunette.

"Shower."

"Oh, come on then. We'll meet her later."

Lily whispered the password to the Head Dorm and pulled Christie up to her Head's Common Room. Christie had been up there before, once or twice. Mel hadn't been at all. Lily led Christie into her room and they sat on her bed.

"The house elves should be up soon with the stuff."

"You have house elves at your command?"

"Yeah. You can borrow one if you want. You have to be nice to them, though. The poor things don't get paid."

Christie and Lily mucked around with Lily's clothes for a while before going off in search of Mel. They found her trying to coax her kitten out from under Sirius' chair.

"Come on, kitty. Here, kitty."

"Maybe you should scare her out," suggested Sirius.

"No! Nobody scares my poor, little Cadbury."

That is the name of her kitten, Cadbury. It was a beautiful chocolate colour with tiny little white paws and beautiful yellow eyes.

"Need some help?" he asked her.

"That would be good," she said from somewhere under his legs.

Christie and Lily looked at each other before walking over to help Mel and Sirius get Cadbury.

"Got her!" exclaimed Sirius, appearing from under the armchair. Cadbury looked tiny in his massive arms. Mel carefully took the cat from him before it attacked her and ran up the Boy's staircase.

"Bloody cat," she murmured under her breath, a large gash now running down her cheek.

"Come on, lets go," said Lily trying to drag Mel away from her spot on the carpet.

"Coming. Oh, thanks Sirius."

"No problem," he replied, sitting back down in front of the fire.

* * *

Lily, Mel and Christie ran up the stairs to Lily's room and started jumping on her bed.

"I like these dorms," said Mel, slightly dizzy.

"Yeah, they're cool," Lily replied, double bouncing Christie.

She squealed and flew off the bed, cleverly landing on her feet by the window.

"Careful!" she scorned, giving Lily a disapproving look.

Lily laughed and jumped off the four-poster, landing right next to Christie. Mel tried it too. It just...didn't quite work. She wound up lying on the rug, face down.

"Ouch!"

"Mel! Why did you even try that in the first place? You know you can't do it," Christie joked.

"I just wanted to try," Mel said, recovering.

They played tip for a little while when the food and mattresses turned up. They laid them out around the room and put the food on a table in the middle.

* * *

"Okay, truth or dare?" Mel asked Lily.

The girls had eaten a bit, jumped a bit more and then retired to their beds for a few minutes.

"Truth," she said.

"Okay...which boy do you like most in this school?"

"Ooohhh..." Christie squealed, getting excited.

"Probably Remus."

"The easy choice," said Mel.

"What do you mean?" Lily questioned, generally puzzled.

"Well..." Mel started, "Everybody likes Remus, right?"

The girls nodded.

"So, obviously, you can like somebody else, but you're always going to like Remus. It's unavoidable."

"True."

"Truth or dare?" Lily asked Christie.

"Dare."

"I dare you to...err...Mel, help!"

Mel sighed and whispered something into Lily's ear. She grinned like a maniac the whole time.

"Christie, I dare you to walk into James' room and take two items that grab your interest."

Christie gasped. "That's stealing!" she squealed. "I can't do that."

"Relax. We will return them!"

Christie nodded and stood up. With one last frown, she marched through the bathroom into James' room. Lily and Mel waited silently for five minutes until she appeared at the door again.

"What took you so long?" Mel asked, trying to see what she brought back.

"There was quite a lot there actually, it was a hard choice."

"Just show us!"

Christie sat down on the floor with the other girls. She pulled out two things from her pockets. One was a medium sized, silver frame with a picture of Lily in it. She was smiling happily and hugging her friends. The second thing was some kind of folder or diary.

"Aww... Lils, look! He has a picture of us," sighed Mel, sitting the picture on Lily's bed frame.

"Mel, don't you fall for him too," Lily shrieked disapprovingly.

"Too? Who else likes him? Oh, you like him and you don't want me to like him 'cause you know I look better than you!" Mel replied, dreamily.

Lily didn't say anything. She threw the folder thing at her, though.

"Honestly, that is stalker-esque – having a photo of us," said Christie, picking the folder back up.

"Yeah," Lily agreed, pushing Mel over.

"Don't pick on me!"

"Why?"

"I'm prettier than you, duh."

"Mel! Deflate your ego. We don't want you winding up like Potter."

"I heard my name," came James' voice from the door.

"Yes, you did," said Mel, dodging Lily's fist.

James walked over to Mel's mattress and made himself at home. Lily, Mel and Christie just stared at him before Christie came to her senses and hid the frame and the folder. James was too busy looking at Mel's toy giraffe to notice.

"What's this?" he asked, holding it up.

"That's Ruffe. Don't hurt him!" Mel yelped, diving at her beloved stuffed animal. Ruffe was a blue giraffe with a large purple bow. Mel had owned him since she was very little and wouldn't let him go.

"How much is Ruffe worth?" James asked, holding the toy out of her reach.

"Everything to me!"

Bad idea. James continued holding Ruffe out of Mel's reach until she finally jumped on his back and snatched it out of his hands.

"Aha!"

Mel's victory was short lived when James nicked her blanket – Blanky.

"No! Not Blanky!" Mel yelled.

"Potter! Give it back!" Lily warned, holding her wand up to James' chest.

"Okay, okay. Here."

James gently gave Mel her Blanky and petted Ruffe on the head.

"All better?" he asked Mel as if she was an emotional five year old.

"All better."

Mel sat back down peacefully, wrapping Blanky around Ruffe and affectionately laying them on her bed next to James.

"So what were we doing before _James_ interrupted?" Christie asked, putting a book down.

"Truth or Dare," Lily said, scowling at James.

"Right. Whose go was it?"

"Yours."

"Okay then. James, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to...do something that will annoy Lily."

Lily didn't like that idea at all. "What?"

"You'll get your revenge," Christie added.

James rubbed his hands together. "I'll be right back."

"Good one, Christie!" Lily whined, frowning.

A few minutes later, James appeared with Sirius and Remus in tow – all in there pyjamas.

"We are joining in your sleepover," stated James, sitting back down.

Mel and Lily groaned.

"Well, I'm sure you know the rules and requirements?" Christie asked, matter-of-factly.

"The what?" asked Remus.

"The rules and requirements."

"Yeah, I know what they are but what exactly are they?"

Christie had to think of what he was talking about before replying. "Well, numbrero uno: you have to do whatever we say."

They nodded.

"Two: James has to accept revenge on Lily's part seeing as this is going to turn out annoying to her."

Lily frowned. "And three?"

"Err...I'll come to that."

"Right."

Sirius and Remus sat around the room, all eating food off the table.

"Now what?" Lily asked, scowling at Sirius who was throwing food at Christie.

"Marauder Truth or Dare!" the boys yelled.

The girls got a bit frightened and edged backwards. _Do they practice talking at the same time?_

"How do we play?" asked Christie.

James elected himself to answer. "Well, it's the same as truth or dare but you can't back out of a dare more than once."

"So, if you dare me to jump off a bridge, and I said no, you can make up a different dare and I can't back out?" Mel asked, worried.

"Well, yeah. Only, the dares aren't life-threatening. Same goes with truth."

The girls all agreed and the game began.

"Your turn first, Remus."

"Ok, Sirius, truth or dare?" he asked, turning to his friend.

"Dare!" James clapped him on the back.

"I dare you to...swap clothes with somebody in this room."

"Do I get to pick who?"

"Nope. I draw their name out of a hat."

Christie pulled out some parchment and wrote everybody's names down before scrunching the pieces up. She then pulled out a random container from Lily's trunk and threw them all in.

"Put your hand in," she prompted.

Remus did as he was told and pulled out a piece of parchment. "Mel!"

"Why do I always get picked on?" she whined, frowning at the world in general.

"Come on, this'll be fun," Lily prompted.

Mel finally gave in and everybody walked into the bathroom.

"Okay, Mel you get undressed in my room. Sirius, you get undressed in James' room then we will give you each other's clothes," Lily ordered and the two disappeared.

"You're good at thinking of dares, Moony," complimented James.

"Oh! That reminds me!"

Christie ran out of the room and down to the Common Room. James and Remus gave her questioning looks. Lily shrugged.

"Done!" came Mel's muffled voice from behind the door.

"Finished!" came Sirius'.

Lily grabbed Mel's clothes and handed them to Sirius. James did the same with Sirius'.

"This'll be so funny," whispered Lily to herself, sitting down on the edge of the bath.

Before Sirius and Mel had time to step back out, Christie ran back into the bathroom with a large box. She grinned and put it down in the cupboard.

"For later," she explained.

"Ready yet?" James called out to the clothes-swap victims.

"Almost!" Mel yelled back.

Sirius stepped out, looking hilarious. He had Mel's pink pyjama bottoms on, which looked rather tight and only covered the top three quarters of his legs. Her tank top was also a very tight, transforming into a midriff.

"I look like a chick," he said, rather dully.

"You look like a very Mel-ish chick," Christie added, trying to make him feel better. Didn't work.

Mel stepped out, appearing equally mismatched. Sirius' black pyjama pants were half falling off her and his white t-shirt was drowning her.

"This is so funny!" Mel exclaimed, pulling her/his pants up.

"I can't breathe!"

"Oh, be quiet Sirius."

"Make me."

"Let's keep playing!" Christie suggested.

They all walked back to Lily's room and kept playing. Once Lily had to sing the Hogwarts anthem, Remus had to propose to a fifth year, James had to kiss a fan girl, and Christie had to answer a truth question ("Have you ever skinny-dipped? If yes, when?" which she answered, "Yes, a few weeks ago on holidays."), they all sat down and ate a bit more of the lollies on the table.

"Now what?" Sirius asked, bored. "We've done Marauder Truth or Dare, what now?"

"There isn't any other type of dare apart from the normal version and that is more enjoyable during the day," was James' reply.

"Ah! But we haven't played Christie Truth or Dare!" Mel yelled. "Please, can we play? Please?" she begged, looking up at Christie.

"Of course, I'll just go get it." Christie ran into the bathroom, Mel and Lily jumping up and down.

"Here we go." She walked back in the room and put the box from earlier on the empty table. Everybody crowded around. "Who doesn't know how to play?" Sirius, Remus and James put their hand up. "Okay. Lily, you explain."

Lily sat up straight and put on a professional voice. "First of all, the players must gather around in a circle. Then, a name is drawn out of the hat and a dare or truth is drawn out of the box." Christie shook the old square of cardboard. "The player chosen must go through with the dare or face eviction. The last player remaining: wins!"

Mel started grinning. She normally always won.

"Do we have enough people?" Sirius asked slowly.

"Good point. No."

"Why don't we just go down to the Common Room?" suggested Lily.

"Yeah, alright."

* * *

The six students marched themselves down to the Common Room and Lily stood on a chair. There were about forty people still in the room.

"Any students who wish to play a game and are in fourth year or above, come here at once," She yelled, gaining attention.

About twenty people came over, all looking excited.

"Right, everybody who isn't playing... go to your rooms!"

A few of the younger students left. The rest just stared at her.

"What gives you the right to boss us around?" one of the braver ones asked.

"I'm Head Girl and I am not afraid to deduct house points from my own house."

That got them moving. Soon enough, the students who were going to play, were standing in a line in front of Christie who was writing their names down on squares of parchment.

"Do we just sit in a circle?" Damien asked Christie as she finished up the last few names.

"Err...no. I'll draw out names and we will sit in a clockwise direction."

"How do we play?"

"I'll explain once we have everybody sitting."

"'Kay."

Within ten minutes, the fifty students were all sitting around in a circle. Mel and Damien sat together, Lily was next to two fourth years, Sirius was next to the leaders of Marauders' fan club, James was also next to Damien and a fifth year, and poor Remus was next to two Quiddich fanatics on the other side of the room than most of the elder students. Christie didn't sit down to start off with so she could explain the rules.

"Okay, this game is called Christie Truth or Dare. It's normally a party game for drunken muggle teenagers, so some things will be a bit more than slightly odd. What will happen, is a name and a truth or dare with be drawn from three separate containers. If you back out of the dare or truth, you are eliminated. Plus, I have made it impossible to lie with truth, so be careful if you _are_ picking truth, okay?"

Everybody nodded.

"Well, let's get started."

She stood in the middle and pulled out a name. "Fred Barker."

A nervous sixth year smiled. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

Christie pulled out a dare from the box to the right. "Moonwalk across the room."

Fred stood up and stepped into the circle. The group all clapped and cheered as he moonwalked to over near Sirius. When he sat down, Christie pulled out another name.

"Sirius Black, truth or dare?"

The seventh years all Ooohhhed.

"Dare."

"Take off any two items of clothing the people across from you decides on."

Sirius inwardly thanked the game for not making it the people next to him. Everybody turned to look at James and a boy called Henry. They had a whispered conversation before telling the players.

"We decided on you taking off your shirt and one sock," Henry said, grinning.

Sirius laughed before removing Mel's pyjama top – which he still had on – and one of his black socks.

Christie pulled out another name and laughed. "Lily Evans."

Lily blushed and made a quick decision. "Dare."

Christie pulled out a piece of parchment, put it down and pulled out a different one, and immediately ordered everybody who wasn't in sixth year or above to leave.

"Why?" one of them moaned.

"Because some of these dares are inappropriate and I don't think it would be very sensible to let you stay." Once they were gone, she continued. "Have another player remove an item of your clothing. The item they choose is up to them."

"How do we decide which player?"

"You get to pick."

"Okay, I choose Mel."

Mel stood up, pulled her/Sirius' pants up and walked over to Lily. Before Lily could react, Mel had stolen her dressing gown and had wrapped it around herself, leaving Lily very cold.

"Hey!"

"Hey, yourself! I'm cold," Mel replied, sitting back down.

"But now I'm cold."

Mel shrugged. Christie pulled out another name. There were less people in the game now, so she had to pull out the names of the players who had left. "Damien Young."

"Yes?"

"Truth or Dare?"

"Dare."

"Nobody has done truth yet," Christie cried. "Ah, well. Slow dance with the player on your left for one cheesy song."

Damien looked to his left. Mel.

"Who has some bad music?" James yelled.

"My mother sent me one. Hang on, I'll just go grab it."

A sixth year girl ran up to her room and brought down a magical music player and pressed one of the buttons. On came a very slow, cheesy song and Damien pulled Mel up off the floor.

"Come on." He said, trying not to laugh.

For the whole song, they danced in the middle of the circle, laughing like maniacs. They, and the rest of the students, tried to keep a straight face. It wasn't helped by Mel having to pull her pants up every few steps.

"Congratulations, Mel and Damien. That was spectacular!" Sirius yelled as they sat down, laughing their heads off.

Eventually, more and more people were eliminated until only the seventh year boys and Mel, Christie and Lily were remaining. Half way through, Christie joined in and everybody took turns pulling out names.

"Christie! Where are you going?"

Christie had stood up and was walking to the desk where she had written out all the names. "Oh, I'm just going to add the rest of the dares. The ones that might possibly eliminate somebody. Nobody has left for ages." She did have a point. Almost nobody had gone since eleven. "Now we are going to play clockwise. No more drawing out names."

"Ok."

She added the dares and the rest in continued.

"Christie, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

Lily pulled out a truth. "What is the meanest thing anybody has ever done to you?"

"Well, I was pushed into the lake on my first date by a jealous ex."

"Ouch!" Remus said, raising his eyebrows.

"Tell me about it. Okay, your turn, James."

"Dare."

"Sit next to the best looking player for the rest of the game," Damien read out.

James immediately stood up and sat between him and Lily.

"Aw! You think I'm hot!" Damien cooed, grinning. James punched him on the arm.

"Aye! Don't beat up your team mates. You want us to win the Quiddich cup, don't you?"

James didn't say anything so the turn moved onto Remus.

"Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Take off your shirt until your next turn," Sirius read, frowning. "Who made up these dares?"

"Drunks," was the collective answer.

Remus took his shirt off, revealing thousands of scratches and scars. Nobody said anything. By now, most of them had guessed about his little problem.

"Bedtime, I think."

Everybody turned to Damien who had Mel asleep on his shoulder.

"Oh!" Lily said, walking over to her. "Come on, let's get you to bed."

Lily shook Mel awake and helped her climb all the stairs. Once the girls were up, they all brushed their teeth and retired to bed.

"'Night girls!" the Marauders (Remus, Sirius and James) and Damien called from the bathroom as they all went back to the Boy's Dorm or, in James' case, their Head Dorm.

"'Night!" they all called back.

One by one, the seventh years fell asleep, all thinking about the day ahead.

* * *

**Okay, who can finish this sentence? It's a survey to see how many people know the answer compared to the people who don't.**

**Aussie, Aussie, Aussie...**

**Review the rest of the phrase!**


	3. In which Andy Comes

**Hey, it's me! Thanks for all those lovely reviews for last chapter. Keep them coming. So, the answer to the question was...**

**Aussie Aussie Aussie... Oi Oi Oi.**

**Two out of five for that one. Maybe this chapter's answer will be easier. Don't forget, you can still review your answers. A little bit of a cheat never hurt anybody (cough, cough). On the last chapter, I'll have a summary of answers.**

**Onwards...**

* * *

"Stockings!"

"Pantyhose!"

"Stockings!"

"Pantyhose!"

"Stockings!"

"Pantyhose!"

"Stockings!"

"Pantyhose!"

"Stockings!"

"Pantyhose!"

"Stockings!"

"Pantyhose!"

Mel and Christie had been yelling like that for quite a while now. Lily wasn't so sure how much more she could take.

"Stockings!"

"Pantyhose!"

"Stockings!"

"Pantyhose!"

"Stockings!"

"Pantyhose!"

"Stockings!"

"Pantyhose!"

"Stockings!"

"Pantyhose!"

"Stockings!"

"Pantyhose!"

"SHUT UP!"

Mel and Christie fell silent.

"Could you please take your debate outside right now or suffer the consequences," Lily hissed, glaring at their retreating bodies.

Lily relaxed as the sound of their quarrel slowly became distant. Mel and Christie had been fighting about the real name for the black pant things the girls could wear under their school skirts during the winter. It just so happened they chose the most inconvenient time – right when Lily was writing a letter to her parents in the Common Room.

Everything was silent for a while so Lily went back to writing.

"Stockings!"

"Pantyhose!"

Lily stormed over to the window and threw it open.

"SHUT UP!" she screamed down at her friends on the school lawn.

They looked pretty small from that height, but they still heard her. Hell, the whole school could have heard her had they been listening. She had been in a pretty bad mood since James had drawn on her face while she was asleep. She blamed Christie and Mel for that.

"Evans?"

James came down from the Head's Dorm and gave Lily a curious look.

"What, Potter?" She was still in a bad mood.

"Why are your friends yelling 'pantyhose' and 'stockings'?" he asked.

"Because they just are."

"Oh."

James sat next to her at the table. Lily couldn't concentrate any more so she decided to make some form of civil conversation.

"Thank goodness it's a free first period for the seventh years, aye?"

He nodded. He didn't say anything, though. Just stared at her. It made Lily feel rather awkward.

"So, what are you doing?" she asked.

He just shrugged. This made Lily even angrier.

"Say something otherwise I'll be forced to remove part of your body that I am sure you will miss!"

No, she didn't say that. But she was in the right mood to, had James not spoken.

"Who are you writing to?"

Lily looked down to her letter. She normally wrote to her family, but this time, she didn't know what to say. Her cousin, Belinda, had just had a baby. One thing was for sure, that baby wasn't unattractive, but she'd back you up in a fight.

"My parents," Lily answered slowly.

"I like writing to my mother," James said thoughtfully.

Lily wasn't sure where the conversation was heading, but she thought she might as well have gone along with the ride.

"Why is that?"

James grinned. "'Cause she always sends back cookies when she is done replying!"

Lily smiled too. "What kind of cookies?"

"Any type – Normally a bunch of my favourites."

"Oh, what are your favourites?" She had forgotten about her resentment towards James and her anger toward her friends' debate.

"Cookie dough, chocolate, chocolate chip and any other kind with chocolate," he answered, still grinning like a fool.

"They are my favourites, too!"

Lily looked back down at her letter.

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_How have you all been? I've just finished my exams and will get my results in a few months. I also took my broom licence and passed. Melly and Christie have been doing well, too. Tell Belinda I said congratulations. Send me a picture of the baby when you can. I am staying at Hogwarts for the holidays but I'll see you all soon._

_Love Lily_

_xoxoxoxoxoxoxox_

Before anything else could be said, the bell rang for the end of the first period. They all had DADA next.

"I'm gonna go get my books," James said, walking away from Lily.

She didn't know why, she probably could never explain it herself, but Lily felt empty inside as he walked away.

"Hey! Wait up!" she yelled out to him.

He stopped and turned around quickly. She walked up to him and realised she had no idea what she was doing. Lily blushed lightly and smiled awkwardly. She was about to apologise for calling him and walk away when words just tumbled out of her mouth.

"I'm sorry for being so mean back when you liked me," she said, looking in his eyes.

"Don't worry about it," James replied, smiled (making her blush more) and walked away, back to the Head Dorms.

* * *

Lily slowly walked up the Girl's staircase to her friends – who had snuck in while James and Lily chatted – and sat on Christie's bed.

"Christie?"

"Yes?" asked her blonde friend, combing her hair.

"I just apologised."

Christie put her brush down. "To who? For what? Why?"

"Hold on with the questions!" Lily replied, standing up and pacing.

"Sorry."

"Where's Mel?"

"Don't change the subject." Good old Christie, never letting the conversation stray.

"Well, you'll never believe it, but..."

"Yes...?"

"I just apologised to Potter for being mean," she said in one breath.

Christie screamed.

"I can't believe it!"

"Told you so."

"Mel! Come in here quick!"

Mel ran out of the bathroom, her towel wrapped around her and her hair dripping all over the wooden floor. "What?"

"Lily just apologised to James!" Christie shrieked.

Before Lily had time to shush them, another voice rang through the Dorm.

"I can hear you, you know!"

Mel, Christie and Lily dove under a bed, into the dust and clutter, at the sound of James' voice.

"Why do we always do that?" Mel asked, hitting her head on the way out.

"I don't know, Melissa. But you need to clean up under your bed. Anyway, don't we have DADA now?"

Mel and Lily froze.

* * *

"You're late!" called Professor call-me-Flick Hedgerow from the front of the classroom.

Mel, Christie and Lily had run in ten minutes late, Mel barely dressed and dripping, Lily dusty and ruffled and Christie all spick and span. Christie apologised for them all and the three took their seats in the back of the class, just in front of the Gryffindor boys.

"As I was saying before we were interrupted," She shot the girls a smile, "I have a second teacher coming to join us for the rest of the year as an assistant. Some of you may know her, most of you probably won't. She is a very close friend of mine. I'll get her to introduce herself."

Just as she finished, the door banged open and a women walked in. She had long, messy, black hair that covered her face and dark eyes. She walked to the front of the classroom, kissed Flick on both cheeks and turned around to face the class. Her hair was still covering most of her face. A scary kind of feeling fell over the class and everything seemed to look darker. The girls, and a few of the Ravenclaw boys, shivered.

"Hello," the woman said, her voice was slightly cold and quiet. "I'm Professor Black, but you can call me Andy!"

A complete change in atmosphere occurred. The Blacks were known for dark magic and most were Death Eaters. Some of the class sunk into their chairs and pulled out their wands as if she was about to hex them into oblivion. Sirius only passed the 'I'm not going to murder you while you sleep test' because he was popular. Lily doubted she would even get close to passing.

"Andy!" came a voice from behind the girls.

"Sirius!"

Professor call-me-Andy-but-Lily-secretly-named-her-Blacky ran over to him and gave him a big hug.

"I haven't seen you for ages!" she said, stepping back and looking at him. "You've grown a lot since you were five, haven't you?"

Sirius smiled and nodded. Professor call-me-Flick-but-we'll-call-her-Hedgerow cleared her throat and Blacky kinda floated back to her side.

"Care to explain?" Hedgerow asked Blacky, smiling.

"Oh, right. Sorry, Flicksa. Sirius is my favouritest cousin!" she said proudly, flicking her hair out of her face, revealing a skinny scar and bright red lipstick.

The class was still very tense.

"So, now you have met your second teacher, we will continue with the class, unless you have any more questions..." said Blacky, looking around.

A Slytherin put her hand up.

"Yes?"

"Did you go to Hogwarts when you were younger?"

"Yes.

Another Slytherin put up his hand.

"Yes?"

"Were you in Slytherin?"

Blacky went tense and a cold expression graced her face. "Yes, unfortunately. But I was moved after fifth year when I set fire to the Dorms and killed a young girl."

The Slytherins gasped.

"I'm only kidding! I haven't killed anybody...yet."

The class no longer asked any questions. Hedgerow explained the lesson and soon, all the students were copying down notes very quietly. Blacky was sitting out the front quietly talking to Hedgerow when a small cry came from behind the door. It sounded like a baby.

"Nymphie!" Blacky screamed, running out of the door. "How could I forget you?"

"What the...?" Mel said, turning to face the noise.

The rest of the class also shuffled to look. Before they could see anything, Blacky walked back in the door, carrying a little bundle. The unidentified object was squirming and emitting a loud wail. The Professor walked over to Sirius and handed him the bundle.

"Meet your new second cousin," Blacky whispered to Sirius.

Sirius' eyes grew wide and a handsome smile appeared. He held the little baby in his arms as if it was the most precious thing in the world.

"What's her name?" Sirius asked his elder cousin.

"Nymphadora Andromeda Tonks. But I like to call her Nymphie."

The bell rang and everybody started clearing away, apart from Sirius who was still seated.

"Wait! Can all the Gryffindors stay here for a moment?" Blacky called, waving an arm.

Mel, Lily, James, Remus, Christie, Damien, Maria Smith and Annie Brown (who shared a Dorm with Mel and Christie) all hung back.

"Hi, I'm Andy," Andy said, shaking all of their hands. "So you lot are the new Gryffindor seventh years?"

"Yep!" Mel said, looking down at Nymphie.

"Cool. You guys make the most of it. I have to go feed Nymphie. I'll see you lot later," Andy started walking away. "Oh!" She turned back around. "Who is in the Quiddich team?"

James answered. "I'm captain and Seeker, Sirius and Remus are Beaters, Damien is Keeper and Melly is a Chaser."

"Wow! You are gonna need to replace a lot of people when you leave, aren't you?"

That made them all slightly depressed.

"Yeah..."

Andy walked away while Annie and Maria both went down to lunch.

"Oh, Merlin!" Andy ran back into the room and took Nymphie from Sirius. "Why do I keep leaving you everywhere?" she cooed to the baby and continued leaving.

Everybody frowned.

"Congratulations!" said Damien, thumping Sirius on the back. "Cousins are awesome."

"Yeah," said Christie. "Congratulations."

Once everybody had congratulated Sirius, they all walked together down to the Great Hall for lunch. The girls sat at the far end while the boys sat in the middle. Everything was back to normal, for now.

* * *

"Yeah _baby_!"

"Oh, _behave_!"

"Yeah _baby_!"

"Oh, _behave_!"

"Yeah _baby_!"

"Oh, _behave_!"

"Yeah _baby_!"

"Oh, _behave_!"

"Yeah _baby_!"

"Oh, _behave_!"

"Yeah _baby_!"

"Oh, _behave_!"

"Yeah _baby_!"

"Oh, _behave_!"

Once again, Lily wasn't sure how much longer she could stand it. Mel had wrapped another poor pupil in her wrath of arguing. This time, it was with Damien about the best Austin Powers taglines. Secretly, Lily was going for 'Oh, behave!' with Damien. So was Mel, she just wanted to do something other than her Potions essay.

"Yeah _baby_!"

"Oh, _behave_!"

"Yeah _baby_!"

"Oh, _behave_!"

"Yeah _baby_!"

"Oh, _behave_!"

"Yeah _baby_!"

"Oh, _behave_!"

"Yeah _baby_!"

"Oh, _behave_!"

They continued, voice impersonations and all. Maria and Annie walked into the Common Room. They were a bit weirded out. Wouldn't you be if you had only come in halfway through the argument and the arguers were hidden behind a bunch of seventh years doing their homework? I would be.

"Yeah _baby_!"

"Oh, _behave_!"

"Yeah _baby_!"

"Oh, _behave_!"

"Yeah _baby_!"

"Oh, _behave_!"

"Yeah _baby_!"

"Oh, _behave_!"

"Yeah _baby_!"

"Oh, _behave_!"

"SHUT UP!"

No, it wasn't Lily this time. It was Christie. Ever since she got that headache from the fumes in Potions, she had been in a disagreeable mood. Lily was in a bad mood last time too.

Mel and Damien stopped.

"Do you always choose the least appropriate time, Mel?" she screamed, standing up from the table she was working at in the Common Room.

Mel winced and shrunk back in her chair.

"It's okay, Chris-"

"No! It's not!" Christie yelled, cutting off Lily's attempt at making peace.

"You can do your work in the Head Common Room. I'll open it for you," Lily said quickly before walking over to the Head Portrait Hole and whispering the password.

The door opened and Christie ran up with her homework and a handful of headache tablets in her pocket.

"Oops!" Mel muttered, rolling up her Potions essay and sealing it with her wand.

"Yes, _Oops_!" Lily scorned. "I don't want to treat you like a four year old but when you do silly things like that, I have no choice! Up to your room."

"I don't wanna!" Mel said, in her baby voice.

"Oh, _behave_!" Lily said, not sounding like Austin Powers at all.

Mel pouted and slowly walked up the Girls staircase to her room making a scene as she did. Lily sat back down across from Damien and finished off her work.

"Yeah _baby_!"

"Shut up, _Damien_."

* * *

Remus and Sirius were walking down to dinner very slowly. They didn't want to face James after hearing the news they had. They would have to tell him if they met him along the way.

"How are we going to break it to him?" Sirius asked, flicking a spider off the wall.

"I'm not sure. We'll think of something, don't worry."

They walked through another three hallways before the sound of yelling grabbed their attention.

"No, Malfoy. I need that money."

They turned the corner to see Lucius Malfoy, Snape, Crabbe, Goyle and a small Hufflepuff third year called Kimberly fighting over something.

"You _need_ that money, you say?" Malfoy asked, his wand pointing right at her head.

Remus and Sirius pulled out their own wands.

"Drop the wand, Malfoy!" Sirius yelled, stepping forward.

Malfoy turned and clicked his fingers. Crabbe and Goyle whipped out their wands and started shooting spells at the Gryffindors. Remus dodged a pink stream aimed at his chest and stunned Goyle. Sirius sent a wobbly-leg curse straight to Crabbe and narrowly missed an orange spell from Snape.

"What do we have here?" Malfoy asked, loosing interest in Kimberly so she made a run for it.

Sirius stunned him. Snape was the last one standing on his side.

"Come on, let's go," Remus said pulling Sirius away.

Remus and Sirius walked away, but not before Snape aimed one more dark spell. It hit its target and Snape walked away, levitating his fellow Slytherins as he went. It was the most cowardly thing one can do...attacking opponents as they walk away. But for the slime ball that Snape was, never.

* * *

**Ooh! Try and guess what the spell was! Also, try and guess the information Remus and Sirius know. The next chapter will be up shortly, so don't fret.**

**Reviews make me go faster!**

**RG**

**Love you all!**

**P.S. This chapter's question is:**

**What is the full name of little Nymphie in this story?**

**It's an easy one!**


	4. In which Something is Found

**Nymphadora Andromeda Tonks. Yes, that is the answer to my last question. Thanks to my beautiful, highly attractive reviewers. You guys rock! So, there were a few close guesses with what was going to happen next, but nobody got the right answer. Well, read on and find the real spell.**

**P.S. Sorry for the lateness and thanks to Merry-Moony-Squishy for sticking with me for so long (well, she gave me the idea). Thanks to all my lovely readers too (again)!**

* * *

Meanwhile, Mel, Damien, Lily and Christie were all down in the Great Hall eating.

"Aww...look! It's a little bubby one!" Mel cooed, looking down at her potatoes.

"Yes, Mel!" Lily said with the air of one telling a toddler one plus one equalled two, scraping her plate clean. "It _is_ a baby potato."

"You guys are seriously weird," Damien said, shaking his head.

Christie beamed at him in a scary way. "Well, you'll be pleased to know there are emergency exits..." She pointed at random places around the Hall. "Here...here...here...here...here..._and_ here!"

Damien nodded. "I see. I'll keep that in mind."

They continued eating until James walked up and sat next to Damien. "You have no idea what I just heard!" he said, piling his plate with food.

"What?" Damien grunted, spraying salad all over Mel's face.

"Slytherin's seeker just got in a nasty duel and is out for the season!"

Mel and Damien hi-fived. "Yessssssssss!"

Lily waved her wand to clear the food off Mel's face, frowning as she did. "Well, I think we all better go finish our homework," Lily interrupted, shoving her wand back into her pocket.

"Yeah, I need to finish my astronomy essay."

Lily and Christie stood up. Mel pouted at them. "I'm swill hun'y!" she exclaimed through her 'bubby' potato.

Christie sighed. "Fine, stay here with these two," she said, pointing at James and Damien who had food everywhere. "I'm sure your eating habits are all incredibly alike already."

Lily and Christie left. Mel giggled. "It's my birthday tomorrow!"

"Yep!" the boys both answered dully. Mel wasn't very pleased with their enthusiasm levels.

* * *

Lily and Christie slowly walked out of the Great Hall and started climbing the first set of stairs. Everybody was either in the Hall or outside seeing as the weather was so good, even this close to winter. Christie still had her mind on how bad Mel's eating habits were. This is the reason why she didn't hear the sound of a baby cry.

Lily heard it. "Christie?" she whispered. "Did you hear that?"

"Hmm? No, what was it?"

The two friends turned the corner to find two little bundles lying on the floor. They proceeded with caution, staring at the strange things. There were two sets of robes lying on the stone floor with little things poking out.

"It's a UFO!" Lily said, poking the thing with her wand.

Christie looked closer. "No, Lily. They're babies."

* * *

"So, what are you going to get me for my birthday?" Mel asked, having a third serving of pudding.

"Not tellin'!" James and Damien replied at the same time.

"Aww...please? I'll still act surprised!"

"Who said we were getting you anything at all?" Damien asked, grinning.

Mel stared at them in shock. "But you HAVE to! I'm turning seventeen! I'll be _of age_!"

"Relax, Melly. We got you something, don't worry!" James chuckled as she relaxed and turned back to her food. "You are spoilt by us, you know?"

Mel glared.

"Well, let's go. I'm full!" Damien yawned, stretching his arms and nearly knocking a sixth year out.

"But I'm still hungry!" Mel complained as Damien stood up.

James got up too and they started leaving. Mel shot one last look at them before grabbing a few pieces of cake and running after the boys, screaming, "Wait for me!"

* * *

"Lily, what should we do with them?" Christie asked.

Lily and her had picked the little things up and wrapped them in the robes they were being suffocated by when they turned up.

"I'm going to call this one Danny," Lily responded, holding the dark-haired baby.

"Lily! Not helping!"

"Sorry. I reckon we should just look after them and take them to Dumbledore tomorrow. It's a bit late tonight and I think he is out on business anyway."

"Okay," Christie sighed, "You know what? I'm going to call this one Billy." She looked down at the blonde, bubbling thing and smiled. "Look Lils! Billy is smiling!"

Lily looked over her way. "No he isn't! He's throwing up."

"Gross." Christie moved Billy across so he was resting on her hip and she pulled out her wand. "Lils? What is the spell to remove stains, again?"

"**_Scourgify_**"

"Right, thanks."

By the time Christie had removed the stain, they had reached the Common Room. Christie, Billy, Lily and Danny were the only ones in the room.

"Come on, we'll take them up to my room," Lily said, pushing the Head Portrait open.

The girls climbed in, carrying the boys with them.

* * *

**It's short. I know. Shut up. Stop laughing!**

**...err**

**Sorry.**


	5. In which James makes a Discovery

**Sorry for the lateness.**

* * *

"Stop crying!" Christie moaned into her pillow as Billy kicked and cried on the rug. "Please!"

Lily came out of the bathroom and yawned. She grinned over at Danny who was sleeping soundlessly on her bed. The little, dark-haired boy was slowly breathing and his chest rose up and down in a slow rhythm. Lilly walked over to him and pulled the sheet up around his shoulder.

"Please!" Christie wailed again and crawled dramatically over to the little bundle on the floor.

"Go to bed, Christie. I'll look after Billy for you."

Christie didn't wait around long enough for Lily to change her mind and quickly left the Head Dorm, calling out her goodnights behind her. Lily carelessly waved back as her friend disappeared.

"Well, Billy, it's just you and me left, now."

* * *

James, Mel, Damien and Mel's cake slowly reached the seventh floor corridor. Mel and Damien were about to say goodbye to James when Christie came running around the corner and to a stop right in front of them.

"Is everything okay, Christie?" Mel asked through a big bite.

She nodded slowly. "Yes, yes, I hope so." Leaving the other three speechless as they pondered what she was on about, Christie crawled through the Portrait Hole and left the scene.

"Well..." James said, breaking the silence that followed the blonde's retreat. "'Night!"

"'Night!" Damien and Mel said back and turned to leave.

James waltzed his way around to the Head Dorms while whistling an upbeat tune. He passed three Ravenclaw girls on his way.

"Hello, ladies!" He greeted them with a smile and kept walking, not noticing them burst into hysterical giggles behind him as he opened the Head Portrait Hole.

* * *

"_...Daddy's gonna buy you a mocking bird, and if that mocking bird don't sing, errr...something, something, something, doooooooo_."

Lily's singing did nothing to calm baby Billy who was struggling in her arms. She sighed and plopped down into the dorm couch in front of the fire. She rocked Billy back and forth and his cries became less and less frequent. Lily slowly closed her eyes and drifted off into a light sleep.

* * *

James stopped mid-whistle and took in his surroundings. Sitting on the couch was his fellow Head with a baby in her arms while small baby toys littered the room and a little record player made light dinging noises to the tune of a nursery rhyme. He carefully walked over to Lily and stared at her for a moment. She was fast asleep as was the child lying in her lap.

He thought for a moment. Hadn't Lily written to her mother and say something about a baby and a woman called Belinda? James looked around. There were no other people in the Common Room and he doubted there would be anybody upstairs.

With great care, he lifted the baby out of her clutch and held him gently in his own arms. He looked softly down at the little boy's face and smiled weakly. There was something familiar about the child but he knew he had never seen them before. James carried the thing up to his own room and placed him down on the four-post double bed. He made sure the child was right in the middle and that nothing too harmful was lying around before going back for Lily.

* * *

Christie lay down in her bed and sighed shortly in contentment. She was in bed, nice and cosy warm.

WITHOUT a baby screaming in her ear.

Of course, she felt sorry for Lily. But the call of sleep was loud in her ears so she didn't spare it another thought.

* * *

"Pea_nuts_..."

James had to fight back a snort at Lily's sleep talking in case he woke her up. He didn't want to imagine having to explain to her why he was currently carrying her up to her room. She'd probably slap him, to start off with. But, he pondered and he stumbled up the first stair, she had said she was sorry for hurting him all the countless times before. James liked to think Lily had meant both mentally and physically, but somewhere deep down he knew her apology was only skin deep. After all, she probably didn't know how heart broken he had been.

"No!" Lily cried and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "I really don't want to go to the post office!"

James laughed to himself and carefully balanced her on his knee so he could reach for the door handle. She wobbled a few times and he had to freeze so she didn't fall and wake up, but James eventually got a hand to the doorknob and slowly opened it. He stood upright again and readjusted his grip on Lily while his eyes got used to the dark. He then quickly walked her over to her bed. Luckily, it was clear so he didn't have to move anything out of the way.

"Would you like a pina colada, Madame Rose?"

James walked back to his room, exhausted, and double-checked the baby was asleep. "Right where I left you," he murmured before disappearing into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

When he came back, however, he was slightly shocked to find there was not one, but two little lumps in the middle of his bed. The latest addition to the group had dark hair and was sniffling to itself. James froze. What was Lily doing with _two_ babies? Didn't she trust him enough to tell him what was going on?

"Stupid question..." he muttered to himself. "She doesn't trust me _at all_."

He sighed and changed into his pyjamas before sitting beside both the children.

"Hello," he whispered to the black-haired baby. "What's your name?"

The boy didn't look directly at James, but crawled into his lap anyway. James carefully picked the boy up, lay down on his pillow and placed the boy in his side. The baby fidgeted until he made himself comfortable and all James could hear was silence.

It took a few hours for James to fall asleep. He was overly aware that there was a tiny life form cradled at his rib cage and yet another sleeping soundlessly around his knee region. James simply wasn't used to being around humans younger than him. He had always dreamed of having a large family one day, and his mother had told him he was a natural with children, even though he wasn't around them very often.

The blonde boy let out a small yawn and crawled his way up to the pillows before falling asleep again. James watched them in the moonlight as their tiny bodies moved up and down.

_One day_, he thought to himself, _I'm going to have children – lots of them_.

* * *

**Sorry, again, for the lateness. This is for you, ****Merry-Moony-Squishy****. Ta-da!**


End file.
